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| March 07, 2009 News |
| On the Road: The Life of a Journeyman Mechanic - Mike Maurini - Day 7 |
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 | Race Tech Development's Mike Maurini
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The following edition of 'On the Road' takes a look at one of the busiest young men in the industry, Mike Maurini. Many of you know him for his previous position with the FirstKart.com race team and with the Shifter Kart Illustrated, with whom he worked earlier in the decade. Now, Maurini has created his own business, Race Tech Development, and is working as a wrench for top karters across the country. His diversified program also includes other facets of the industry, including press release work for the Stars of Karting and a select list of drivers.
Back to the track early on Friday, you could tell there was a little sense of urgency in the air as this afternoon would be qualifying. With the qualifying times setting our starting order for the heat races, putting down a decent time would be important. With three practice sessions in the morning and one official timed session in the afternoon, the Junior National qualifying session would take place at 4:15pm.
Working through the morning sessions, it seemed as we were one of the three quickest drivers. Putting on a new set of tires for session three, we turned a very quick time of 37.99 that would stand for the quickest time of the day. Utilizing the same tires for the official timed session four, we worked on heat race setups and ran consistently in the 38.2 range as we hot pitted the kart on two different occasions. Trying the kart with a different front torsion bars and different air pressure, we found a great setup for racing action that should keep us at the front of the pack.
With a three hour break, a new gear was installed and new tires mounted as we prepared for qualifying. Analyzing the morning’s runs, we decided to make a small flex change to help on a drastically changing track. Having coming for several years, it is noted that the OGP facility slows down when it gets hot out. Between 2 and 5pm is the slowest portion of the day as we looked to get prepared for the important qualifying session.
Turning a quick time early, I pulled Tyler off the track as EKN’s Rob Howden had announced that we were in the second position. Checking air pressure, we waited for what felt like an eternity as drivers circuited the racing facility. Looking for a top five starting position for the heat races, we held second for quite sometime behind Phil De La O before Taylor Miinch and local boy Daniel Formal jumped ahead of us.
Back to the track for four more laps, Tyler managed to do the same time qualifying P4 before pulling off the track and heading to the scale lane. As we cleared weigh in, it was off to post qualifying technical inspection where exhaust headers and spark plug protrusion were checked. Good to go, it was back to the trailer to prep for tomorrow.
After debriefing with Tyler, he informed me that the kart needed more overall grip. Waiting to see what the weather would do in the morning, we decided to change to our second of two checked in motors for the heat races. Looking to save what we thought was our best for the main event, motor two would hopefully give us that heat race reliability that we were looking for.
Changing to practice tires and a carburetor rebuild was in order before departing the track at 7:20. With a team dinner planned for 7:30 and not a lot of vehicle space, Tony Loniewski and I jumped into the back of the pick up for the short five mile drive. Arriving at the Holiday Inn, several tea members ran up stairs to the Asian restaurant to make their reservations. However, looking to do more then one job, I was off to shower and meet with Stars of Karting President Alan Rudolph to discuss a few items over a drink or two. A quick phone call to the wife before meeting Alan and then it was back to the hotel by 10:15pm where I met up with Team Top Kart, Franklin Motorsports, Rodney Berryhill, Greg Bell and Kyle Kraus amongst others sitting in the lobby bar bench racing the day’s action. Exhausted from a stressful day, one Corona was all that it would take before I was off to bed just before midnight.
With the wake up call less then six hours away and having a solid 13 hour day at the track, it was off to bed in preparation for tomorrow’s heat racing which is sure to be good.
Stay tuned all this week for my On the Road: The Life of a Journeyman Mechanic segment. |
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